Half-hearted analysis of most embarrassing recent discouraging development (undermined by personal conviction that most recent discouraging development was very much a non-story, yet not commenting on it at all after a few days doesn’t feel right, either).

Oliver Perez says he can _____________(verb) the Mets if they’d just put him in the starting _________________(noun). Thousands of ______________ (adjective) Mets fans responded by declaring, “_____________________”(expletive)

Just a word on the Orwellian minute of hate being directed toward these 3 players. I think the fact that they are Latino has as much to do with this as their on-field performance (whether Beltran deserves it or not is another question.) There’s something about this Walter Reed business that smacks of the kind of Sept. 11th mind-fuck that has turned major sporting events into pro-war rallies. I’ll never forget the first game played at Citi Stadium when those jet fighters flew over. What the hell does a display of military might have to do with the national pastime?

Sure there’s the Latino issue– now that the new Mets” “spokesmen” are suburban white-guys like Thole, Pelfrey, and Parnell– but, let’s face it, the Walter Reed visit would not have been an issue if the Mets were winning. The NY press loves nothing more than to pounce on a team when it’s down and the Mets provide them with endless fodder for ridicule. The only mystifying factor is the extent that Mets ownership eggs on this kind of schoolyard negativity instead of quietly getting its house in order and putting a quality team on the field.

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